Folding seat.



PATENTED FEB. 11 1908..

J. Z. MILLER.

I FOLDING SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1 907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Fig -11.

- INVENTOR. John Z .l llller.

" WITNES ES:

I ATTORNEY.

THE murals PETERS co., mlsmncmlv. n. c.

No. 878,889, v PATENTED FBB.11,1908.

J. Z. MILLER.

FOLDING SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1907.

2 SHBETS-SHEBT 2.

WITNESSES:

W'MW I INVENTOR.

John Z.M.1'11e r.

ATTORNEY.

rnE NORRIS Pzrsss ca WASHINGTON, n. c.

JOHN z. MILLER, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

FOLDING SEAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Application filed June 13, 1907- Serial No. 3781704.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, JOHN Z. MILLER, of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Folding Seat; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a convenient and practical seat adapted for places and uses when it is desired that the back at times be folded out of the way or entirely removed.

I made this invention with particular reference to use on hearses.

I-Ieretofore hearses, as a rule, have been provided with backless seats for the drivers, because a permanently secured back was considered to mar the beauty and appearance of a hearse.

With my invention a separate back is provided for each person on the drivers seat, say two, and they can be independently folded down under the cushion and out of sight when not in use. When persons occupy the seats, the backs are up, but fit so closely against the backs of the persons, that the seat backs do not show or appear conspicuous. When only one person 1s occupying a seat on a hearse, the back not used is folded out of the way, preferably under the cushion but it may be upon the cushion. To this end the back is upholstered and the u holstered portion thereof would be much li e a cushion, so that when it is turned down upon the cushion, it will not be noticed.

While the invention has been made with reference particularly to a hearse, I do not wish to limit it to that use, as it is capable of use elsewhere.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a seat with the back turned up and the front portion broken away and the cushion shown in dotted lines. Fig, 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is the same with the back turned down under' the cushion, the latter being shown by full lines. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the bottom of the seat, the back being removed. Figs. 5 and- 6 illustrate a modified form wherein the back folds upon the cushion, which latter is shown by dotted lines. Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the rear portion with the parts in position when the back is elevated, the remaining parts broken away.

In detail 10 represents the bottom of the seat or board upon which a cushion 11 is placed. Upon said bottom board a seatack support 12 is placed so as to be very readily removable, in fact it may be removed by merely lifting it up out of the way. The forward end of the support 12 protrudes or catches under a staple or loop 13 in the bottom-board 10, and the remaining portion of said back-support merely rests upon said bottom board loosely.

At the rear end each of the two arms of said back-support 12 has a downwardly extending lug 14 to engage the rear edge of the bottom board 10. The two lugs 14, therefore, prevent lateral movement of the seat back, and the loop or staple l3 prevents the I tipping of the back and the rearward movement thereof. The support 12 is a flat piece of iron so that a cushion may readily be placed thereon. A tube or bar 16 is rigidly secured to the rear ends of the arms of the support 12 and extends beyond the same laterally far enough to receive coils 17 on the lower end of the back rods 18. This rod 18 extends about the margin of the back cushion or upholstering 19 and constitutes the rigid portion of the back. It is made of spring metal sufliciently strong to endure the strain of the seat-back and yet yield somewhat, and the yielding is taken up somewhat by the coil 17 so that it makes a very comfortable back.

The coils 17 turn upon the tube or bar 16 so that the back may be folded down into the position shown in Fig. 3, or turned upright, as shown in Fig. 1. In its upright position there are two stops at each side of the seat to limit the rearward movement of the back. Either one of said stops would probably be sufficient, but the two furnish reliable stopping means. One of the sto s consists of an arm 20 projecting latera ly from each of the arms of the back-support 12 so as to be engaged by the back-rod 18 when the seat is turned up. This appears in Fig. 2. Likewise the extreme end 21 of each coil 17 is turned laterally to engage the lug 14 on the support 12. This furnishes a yielding stop, while the other stop is a rigid one, and the parts are so arranged that the yielding stop is the first to be engaged and holds the seatback out of engagement with the permanent stops 20, as shown in Fig. 1, at al times excepting when there is considerable back pressure on the seat-back, and then the stops 20 afford a permanent limit to the backward movement.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 each arm of the back-support 12 has a rear upward extension 30 substantially as high as the cushion, and the back is mounted on that in the same manner asheretofore described;

When thus formed, the back can be turneddown upon the cushion out of the way.

What I claim as my. invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. The combination of aseat-bottom, laterally projecting round members rigidly secured thereto, a seat back carried by rods extending downwardly from each side thereof and coiled around said circular members, stops for engaging the ends of said coils when the seat-back is upright for limiting the backward movement thereof, and rigid stops above said coils-for engaging said rods and stopping the same when the seatback is subjected to strain.

2. The combination of a seat-bottom, a seat-back supporting frame resting loosely upon said seat-bottom having two rearwardly extending arms with a lug extending downwardly from the rear end of each arm so as to lie against the rear edge of said seatbottom for loosely engaging the forward end of said frame, a round member extending laterally from each arm of said frame, a seatback provided with a downwardly extending rod at each side thereof that is coiled about said round member and the extreme end of ing'upward to form the border and frame of the back, upholstering material secured to the upper part ofsaid spring metal rod, and astop for limiting the backward movement of the seat-back.

4. The combination of a seat-bottom, a back-supporting frame resting loosely upon said seat-bottom with lugs at the rear endthereof extending down behind the seatbottom, a loop secured to the seat-bottom for loosely engaging the forward end of said frame, and a seat-back pivotally connected with the rear part of said seat-frame,

whereby the seat-back may be removed.

from the seat-bottom by merely lifting the seat back, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of the witnessesherein named.

JoHNYZ. MILLER.

Witnesses N. ALLEMONG, OLIVE BREEDON. 

